Gustbuster Umbrella Works As Promised, Withstands High Winds

If you’re standing outdoors in winds over 50 miles per hour, you may have bigger problems than a broken umbrella. In case it happens, though, don’t you want the strongest possible rain protection? You can find the Gustbuster online and in an awful lot of golf stores, but is that any kind of endorsement? Lab coats flapping in the breeze, our sibling publication Consumer Reports decided to test the Gustbuster’s claims.

The claim is that the umbrella stays solid in winds up to 55 MPH. “Certified by the College of Aeronautics to withstand winds of 55+ mph and above,” to be precise. How does that work out in the real world? Consumer Reports testers attached an umbrella to a car and drove at ever-escalating speeds to see how much wind the umbrella could stand. It reached over 50 MPH without turning inside out–impressive. The Totes umbrella they tested as a control only made it to 15.

If you find that your umbrellas tend to catch the wind and turn inside out, this may be the product for you. If you’re more likely to lose your umbrella than to invert it, spending extra probably isn’t a good option.